Sheriff’s Office prepping for 100th anniversary

Law enforcement-related historical artifacts are on display at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Lynn Haven. The Sheriff’s Office is asking the public to dig up any old artifacts and memorabilia they might have stashed away in closets, attics or shoeboxes and bring them in so they might be used in a display commemorating BCSO’s 100th anniversary.

Andrew Wardlow / The News Herald

By Chris Olwell / The News Herald

Published: Monday, May 6, 2013 at 07:10 PM.

LYNN HAVEN — Calling all cars: Be on the look for old artifacts from the first century of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Artifacts may appear in the form of dusty photographs, rusty pistols, faded patches or uniforms. Contact with any artifacts should be reported to the sheriff’s office post-haste.

The Sheriff’s Office is calling on the public to dig up any old artifacts and memorabilia they might have stashed away in closets, attics or shoeboxes and bring them in for a display commemorating the 100th anniversary of the BCSO.

Will Bonner with the BCSO’s community services division is spearheading the effort, and he’s convinced the Visual Arts Center to allow the Sheriff’s Office use of a room for an exhibit scheduled from July 12 until Sept. 16. Now, he has to fill up that room.

Bonner, Sheriff Frank McKeithen and Capt. Steve Harbuck rolled out a display of old pistols, badges and Billy clubs Thursday as a demonstration of the kind of things they hope people might bring in. Not all of it was authentic, because, as McKeithen put it, “We’re so busy thinking about the future that we forget about the past.”

In other words, the Sheriff’s Office hasn’t been that great at retaining stuff with potential historic value.

“We have discovered in all this that we’re not very good historians,” Harbuck said.

With 75 years of police work between them, McKeithen and Harbuck can remember the big busts and the tough fights. Of course, the memories return a little easier with prompts like photos or equipment.

LYNN HAVEN — Calling all cars: Be on the look for old artifacts from the first century of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Artifacts may appear in the form of dusty photographs, rusty pistols, faded patches or uniforms. Contact with any artifacts should be reported to the sheriff’s office post-haste.

The Sheriff’s Office is calling on the public to dig up any old artifacts and memorabilia they might have stashed away in closets, attics or shoeboxes and bring them in for a display commemorating the 100th anniversary of the BCSO.

Will Bonner with the BCSO’s community services division is spearheading the effort, and he’s convinced the Visual Arts Center to allow the Sheriff’s Office use of a room for an exhibit scheduled from July 12 until Sept. 16. Now, he has to fill up that room.

Bonner, Sheriff Frank McKeithen and Capt. Steve Harbuck rolled out a display of old pistols, badges and Billy clubs Thursday as a demonstration of the kind of things they hope people might bring in. Not all of it was authentic, because, as McKeithen put it, “We’re so busy thinking about the future that we forget about the past.”

In other words, the Sheriff’s Office hasn’t been that great at retaining stuff with potential historic value.

“We have discovered in all this that we’re not very good historians,” Harbuck said.

With 75 years of police work between them, McKeithen and Harbuck can remember the big busts and the tough fights. Of course, the memories return a little easier with prompts like photos or equipment.

“Forty years I’ve been doing this,” McKeithen said. “I wish I still had my first uniform.”

A former newsman already has contributed a bunch of old photos dating back to the 1960s. McKeithen and Harbuck browsed them recently and took a trip down memory lane. “This guy was a legend,” and “that guy was a mean so-and-so.” They found a picture from their time on the drug unit.

“Yeah, we had some swagger then,” Harbuck said.

“We had some hair, too,” McKeithen added.

They’d like to get a look at old photos for possible inclusion in a book they’re working on, too, and Harbuck is pretty sure people, particularly family members of former deputies and sheriffs, have what they’re looking for tucked away somewhere.

“It doesn’t matter how far back,” Bonner said. “We’d love to have stuff from the inception.”

How to Help:

Anyone with items they think might be of interest to the Sheriff’s Office should get in touch with Will Bonner by calling 866-1757. All items will be returned.

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